Prime Suspect
by FBI Bones
Summary: He’d arrested hundreds of people. Man, woman, child… it was always the same, never easy, but the same. But this time it was different. Future Fik.
1. Deluge

_Disclaimer: Bones isn't mine, but we can all dream can't we?_

_Summary: He'd arrested hundreds of people. Man, woman, child… it was always the same, never easy, but the same. But this time it was different. Future Fik._

_Author's Notes: Originally this was to be a sequel to 'Love. Life. Eternity' but I am really struggling to finish that and this is the only one of my Bones fictions that are either started or planned that I could actually get into so I thought I'd change the storyline a bit so it was an independent fiction and see what happened. You do __**not **__need to have read any of my other fictions to understand this, anything unclear will be explained as the story goes on._

Chapter 1: Deluge

Seeley sighed and ran a hand over his face before looking back at the case file on his desk. Flipping through the pages when he found he'd read the same paragraph several times already and was still yet to pick up his pen to add his signature to who knows how many dotted lines. Admitting defeat he snapped the manila folder closed and put it back in his in tray to be dealt with at a later date.

He yawned widely as he stretched and looked at the clock on his computer screen, cursing to himself when he realised that yet again, it was passed half nine and he had only just begun to think about going home. Shaking his head to try and clear it he stacked away the files and papers he was yet to deal with and picked up the dishearteningly few he had actually managed to complete. He thought about taking them to Cullen now but decided it could wait until morning and put them in a neat pile to take to the Deputy Director in the morning.

Putting on his coat and buttoning it up after a brief glance outside showed that the skies were once more intent upon attempting to drown the city. He smiled and nodded at the security guard as he headed down to the parking lot and got in his car.

"_Well folks, looks like we've got it again! It's raining cats and dogs out there and it doesn't look like it's going to be lightening up at all this week – so forget the surf boards guys and bust out that boating gear!"_

He flicked the radio off as the jaunty tone of the weather reporter faded into the background of some classic hit or other that he'd never heard of and by the opening few bars wouldn't like anyway so he opted to drive in silence. The traffic coupled with the weather turned the normally twenty minute journey into an eighty-minute one.

It seemed that the rain intensified tenfold just in the walk from the car to the front door, he kicked the door when the lock jammed,_ again_; it had only been fixed last week.

"Parker?" he called out as he shut the door against the picking up wind and ran a hand through his no-longer-immaculate hair. "Parker?" he unbuttoned his coat and hung it up as he went further into the apartment, frowning as he went from room to room trying to locate his son.

Concern growing but refusing to pay any heed, he dialled Parker's cell phone number into the phone in the hall. Holding the receiver to his ear he waited for a reply, muttering an expletive under his breath when the only reply he got was network services telling him that the number he was trying to reach was either turned off or out of range.

He flicked through the book by the phone, coming up short when he found not one of Parker's friends' numbers in there, and that it was alarmingly empty; FBI Headquarters, Cullen, The Jeffersonian, Angela and Hodgins, and, he sighed, Temperance's. Figuring that it was his best shot he punched in the numbers for his soon to be ex-wife's home phone and waited.

"Brennan,"

"Tempe, hi uh… you okay?"

Her mood seemed to change completely, not in an angry way just sort of… weary "I'm fine," she replied "you?"

"I'm good;" he swallowed "I'm good,"

There was the sound of something hissing in the background followed by a series of clanking noises; he recognised them as those of cooking. Why she was cooking at this hour he didn't know but it was an odd habit of hers he remembered from the time they had spent living together.

"So you called me to ask me if I was okay...?" she prompted.

"No!" he capitulated "not at all, no, definitely not in fact-," he could almost hear her amused confusion even down the phone line "you haven't seen Parker have you?"

"Not since Monday – have you only just got in?"

Seeley took a heavy breath and rubbed the back of his neck "yeah, again I know."

He could almost hear her nodding.

"You tried his cell?"

"Yes of course," he snapped.

"I'm only trying to help," she replied just as quickly.

"It doesn't matter,"

"Seeley-"

He didn't hear the rest of the sentence as he hung up. It had been a stupid idea to call her at all. The best bet was to wait for Parker to come in; he was a fifteen-year-old boy and it was Thursday night, the last place he'd want to be would be home. And if he was… Parker had changed so much of the passed few years. Seeley had been under the illusion that he wasn't going to have to go through the worry of finding girls in the bedroom, parties if he was out of town for the weekend or any number of stupid yet highly typical things his son had done since hitting puberty.

How naïve was that?

Sherry had been nineteen and, in teen speak, when he had walked in, Parker and her and been _way _passed first base and by the looks of it, looking to make the home run. Thank God there had been very little traffic on the way home. Although the discussion that had taken place afterwards was as much uncomfortable for him as it had been for his son he was sure, because honestly? Having to have 'the talk' once had been bad enough, but twice? And with know-it-all wise cracks simultaneously followed by an angry slam of his bedroom door? Yeah, that was torture.

Seeley turned when he heard the front door slam "it's quarter past eleven,"

Parker shrugged out of his jacket "and?"

"Where've you been?" he tried his best to sound casual.

"Out," the teen replied brushing back his fringe as the slightly dark blond locks flicked in his eyes and headed for the kitchen, he knew his father was following him without even having to look.

"Where abouts?" Seeley leant on the doorjamb, standing up again when his shoes slipped on the laminate flooring and he nearly went sprawling to the floor.

"Around," was Parker's absent reply as he rummaged through the fridge for a can of coke and produced it with a muttered "ahah,"

"Parker," he said slowly, tiring of the game, he was tired, his nerves frayed and to be honest all he wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for a week.

"What, you want a list?"

"Would be good yeah," the answer equally as snide as the question.

"Ritter's, pizza place and the park,"

Seeley closed his eyes as Parker brushed passed him on the way to the living room "you should have been home hours ago. Or at the very least have left a note so I knew where you were," he then added, slightly softer; "you could have called,"

"You mean like you do?" he flicked from channel to channel absently.

It took him a moment to recover and by that point it seemed that his son had already gotten his answer from the silence and got to his feet, the TV now switched off.

"I'm going to bed,"

Seeley didn't say anything as the boy left the room again, he didn't move until several minutes after he heard Parker's bedroom door shut behind him and even then it was only to take seat on the couch and sigh in both exasperation and exhaustion.

_Author's Notes: Short but it is only the start… review if you liked, don't if you didn't._


	2. Nostalgia

_Author's Notes: I know it's been a little while but no where near as long as some of my other works! I have a laptop now, with internet so I'm very happy. Lol!_

Chapter 2: Nostalgia

His eyes snapped open and he bit back a groan of discomfort as his neck creaked in protest when he moved. Blinking the sleep from his eyes it took a moment to focus his vision on his surroundings and interpret the hazy images that were being sent to his brain.

Heaving himself to his feet Seeley ran a hand through his hair and headed for the kitchen where a series of noises indicated that his son was up already. "Morning," he said, yawning a little as he walked over to the coffee maker and flicked the switch.

Parker made a vague noise of acknowledgement, swinging his bag onto his back, a piece of toast in his hand "I gotta go," he said, leaving the room.

Seeley glanced at his watch, blinking harshly when he saw the time "hey," he followed him "you need a lift?"

Parker shook his head "I'll get the bus," he replied, taking a bite out of the piece of toast and swinging the door shut behind him.

Seeley sighed; glancing down at himself he took in his crumpled shirt and mud-hemmed pants before disappearing into the bathroom. He hadn't intended to sleep on the couch and, like two or three times before, he was promising himself he would never do so again but if something isn't planned you can hardly prevent it from happening.

Wincing as he climbed into the shower, the hot spray tattooing a staccato beat on his back and shoulders, bringing forth all the aches and pains that came with sleeping in damp clothes on an old couch as he refused to concede that maybe not all of those aches were related to sleeping in an uncomfortable position but more to do with the fact that – no way, he was _not_ getting old.

The shower should have been quick but the gentle caress of the steam and the serenity the four glass walls provided made 'just another two minutes' turn into five, then ten, then fifteen… it was unlikely he would have moved for several hours had his cell phone not started ringing.

Cursing under his breath he shut off the water, grabbed a towel and as he was wrapping it around his waist he rummaged one-handed through his pants pockets to find his phone.

"Booth," he said into the mouth piece, running a hand down his wet face, "yeah… okay… I'm on my way," he snapped the phone shut, throwing it down onto the bed as he padded back into the bedroom.

* * *

"God," he muttered nasally, one hand coming up to cover his mouth and his other to wave uselessly at the air in front of him to try and waft the stench away, it didn't work. In eleven years it hadn't worked, there was no reason to expect it too now. 

Temperance gave him an odd look, rolling her eyes as she donned a pair of latex gloves and climbed down into the small ravine, carefully brushing aside plants and shrubs as she found footing on more stable ground. Crouching by the remains she carefully pulled aside the corner of the tarp covering the body, "Male," she reported "mid to late teens... judging by the rate of decomposition I'd say he's been dead about three weeks,"

Cam gave Seeley a sympathetic look, patting his arm before following Temperance's lead and clambering down into the gully as well, leaning in close to the remains and gently peeling the tarp further back "there's very little skin tissue left," she said, her nose wrinkled in a way that Temperance was yet to decide was disgust, frustration or amusement, she pushed of her knees and straightened up, tugging the latex gloves off "he's all yours Doc,"

"What the hell is that?" Seeley asked, leaning over the edge of the bank and peering at the object in Temperance's hands.

Temperance looked at him "I have no idea," she said, tactfully avoiding looking at him and staring at the item she held.

* * *

"How's Parker?" Temperance asked, leaning over her desk and rifting through the papers and documents lying in a neat pile in one corner. 

"He's fine," Seeley replied quickly, his tone of voice brooking no room for argument.

"You don't sound like you think he's fine," she observed casually.

"He's just a teenage boy, doing teenager boy things," he replied reflexively.

Temperance gave him an odd look "Booth, are you all right?"

"I'm fine Bones," he answered tensely, relaxing a little he continued "I'm fine,"

She frowned at him and looked as if she was going to continue to conversation, Seeley was therefore grateful when Cam leaned into the office "we've got an ID on those remains," she informed them before continuing to the lab.

Nodding, Seeley gestured for Temperance to go first. It was probably for the best that they had been interrupted, after all it would have only led to an argument and the simple ability to just bicker mindlessly one minute and settle back into each other's pockets the next was apparently one of the many things the marriage had destroyed.

Battles could wage for days, if not weeks with neither wanting to admit defeat and everyone from Cam to the busboy at the Royal Diner getting caught in the crossfire. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun, so many things that had once been entertaining were now located on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Just being anywhere near her was hard and once-upon-a-time people would have said that, that was all due to an irresistible urge to 'jump her' but now, in the harsh light of aftermath it was plain for all to see that it wasn't hard because it was lust or love or whatever Angela wanted to call it. It was hard because it was draining; talking was difficult, trying to remain professional even when something struck home, when their every waking moment for seven years had been spent together.

The FBI had wanted to split them and every so often Seeley found himself wondering why he had pushed so hard against that decision being made. It seemed kind of pointless really but the squints, as difficult as it was to imagine, were his friends too; from Cam with her neatly pressed suits and slightly obsessive desire for everything to be just so to Hodgins with his weird fixation on bugs and odd taste in hats, even Zack, the most robotic of the lot of them with his fathomless knowledge on all things aeronautical and skeletal to his endless need to prove himself to whoever he deemed to be the 'alpha male'.

Angela… Angela didn't even fit into that prognosis. Angela made sense – like a normal human being and sometimes it was nice to have someone who didn't use words that no one without a PhD could understand.

But even so they were his friends, his family, and he wouldn't give them up for the world. Working cases no one else wanted too, stuck together over Christmas and forced to make the best of what little they had, buried alive, kidnapped, tortured, lost and terrified; they'd been there for each other through it all and damn it all to hell if he wouldn't die for every one of them.

They had known the risks, accepted them as part of the equation that had been since the beginning, blossoming and flourishing until finally one too many drinks and not-so-gentle prods in the right direction had led them down a path they couldn't turn away from. A tantalising glimpse of a rocky road that was impossible to resist.

It had gone wrong, maybe he'd known it would since the beginning, maybe he hadn't, maybe that's how it had been supposed to happen, maybe they had been supposed to just sleep together and be done with it. Only he couldn't do that. He'd wanted more. And that had been their downfall.

Whiskey kisses and sex, breakfast in bed, lunch, dinner and coffee, moving in and marriage. He'd pushed her but if she hadn't have wanted to then Temperance wouldn't have said yes would she? The question had been half hearted, tossed out in the heat of the moment, chests heaving and the air thick with the unmistakably smell of sweat and sex; a heady combination that could be to blame for the whispered proposal and equally quiet reply.

They'd been in love. No doubt about it. But love can only last so long, it's not eternal and it's not indestructible; it's fragile and nine times out of ten can't handle the strain that the simple process of living puts on it. Everything in life is fragile, life itself is fragile, you just need to know how to protect it and at that they had failed. Protecting love is harder than protecting people. People are concrete, they don't move, you can see, touch and smell them. Love is abstract and can't be seen, you just have to believe, and they hadn't. Maybe they couldn't, after everything, maybe believing in love was asking too much.

"Jamie Davidson," Angela said as the holographic image of a teenage Caucasian boy flickered in the semi-darkness "age sixteen,"

Temperance squinted at the picture as it rotated slowly, the holographic head looking suitably eerie as it floated in mid air "well done Ange," she congratulated.

Angela smiled at Jack who smiled back just as brightly as his wife. Cam rolled her eyes at them, and then pretended she hadn't noticed.

"There's evidence of trauma to the occipital and the parietal bones," Zack reported, lifting the skull and gesturing meticulously "and the left maxilla shows signs of fracturing along with damage to the right zygomatic ,"

"Which means, what exactly?" Seeley prompted, giving each of them a pointed look.

Temperance sighed patiently "the injuries to the maxilla and zygomatic are consistent with being punched on the right," she demonstrated by clenching a loose fist and making a swing at his face, stopping inches away from his cheek, instead moving to cup his chin and move his head to suit her purposes "and the victim's head recoiling and hitting the left side of his face against something hard,"

"Like a wall?" Cam suggested.

"Yes," Zack confirmed.

Seeley looked at Temperance, eyes catching hers for just a minute as she seemed to hesitate to pull away, as soon as she caught herself she pulled away, taking twice the steps necessary to get out of his space and clearing her throat "is that it?"

Angela shared a look with her husband "uh… yeah sweetie, that's it,"

"Okay," she said, forcing a smile "I'll be in the lab,"

_Author's Notes: End of chapter 2! Hope you liked it, review please :)_


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